Founded in 1928, Cutter Aviation claims to be the oldest family-owned aviation service provider in the world, and last month the company unveiled its newest FBO in a grand opening at Colorado Springs Municipal Airport. Cutter has had a presence there since 2006, when it purchased the former Colorado Springs Aviation.

The company knew the older facility would need to expand eventually, but with the economic downturn a shortly after the purchase, it deferred major capital investment until last November, when it broke ground on the new terminal. “Like all of us in the industry, we had big visions, and then you know what happened,” noted Cutter CFO Steve Prieser. “Now with the industry coming back, and our financial position, it made sense to do the expansion.”

Around the same time, Cutter also acquired a 23,000-sq-ft hangar with 45-foot-high doors from the city of Colorado Springs. Capable of sheltering a 737-400, it took the location’s heated hangar space to 33,000 sq ft.

The expansion added a parcel of land adjacent to the newly purchased hangar, in an area of the airport more accessible to larger aircraft than the existing FBO. As a result, Cutter’s footprint on the airport more than doubled, to 19 acres, with an option on five more acres.

At 9,300 sq ft, the new $3.5 million terminal dwarfs the older facility, which Cutter will retain for use by lighter general aviation, and possibly rented to flight schools. The new terminal, just off Runway 17L/35R, will be dedicated to business jets and turboprops.

FBO Amenities

Furnished in the grand mountain lodge style with timber and stone throughout, the new structure provides a covered porte-cochere, a large fireplace, pilots' lounge with flight-planning area, snooze room, 12-seat A/V-equipped conference room, a large catering kitchen, business center, concierge service, onsite car rental, and on the airside of the terminal a patio offering spectacular views of the airport and nearby Pikes Peak. One of the location’s most popular amenities is the brownies, baked on site every morning in a tradition that stretches back to the previous ownership. Prieser joked that the sharing of the recipe was one of the considerations when Cutter was bargaining to purchase the FBO a decade ago.

The Phillips 66-branded location also recently added a $600,000 fuel farm with capacity for 50,000 gallons of jet-A and 12,000 gallons of avgas, served by a 5,000-gallon and a 3,000-gallon jet-A tanker and a 1,000-gallon avgas truck. The old fuel farm will be decommissioned by year-end.

This month, Cutter also expects to put the final touches on a $12 million, 60,000-sq-ft hangar, built to suit tenant Sierra Nevada, which will occupy the entire building. The FBO contributed one third of the cost of a new taxiway leading to the hangar. Given the size of the structure, the airport is requiring that Cutter install a “campus wide” fire-suppression system with a 250,000-gallon water tank for foam generation, which will also serve any future hangar development in the area. As part of the lease obligations, Cutter is required to add another hangar of at least 20,000 sq ft over the next several years.

Prieser is confident these latest improvements will improve Cutter’s share of business at the airport, which he estimates at 30 percent now. The facility has a staff of 13 and is open every day from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m., with after-hours callout available.

The facility is a DCA gateway under the TSA’s DASSP program. U.S. Customs service is available on request, with agents meeting the arriving aircraft at the FBO. General manager Calvin Martin said the FBO’s peak season stretches from May until November: “It’s mostly business types and those looking to get into the Pikes Peak area for a little vacation,” he noted. The proximity of the U.S. Air Force Academy helps drive traffic, and in winter the location sees plenty of aircraft that diverted from airports serving the state’s ski resorts.

In fact, many aircraft that drop passengers at Montrose or Aspen will relocate to Colorado Springs because it is less congested. “For the most part we are outside the extremely inclement weather,” said Martin. “Our airport does really well with making sure the runways are clear enough for aircraft to get in and out.” Those runways are 13,500 feet, 11,022 feet and 8,270 feet.

Martin’s customer service philosophy is to have his NATA Safety 1st trained staff ready to anticipate whatever might be required. “I believe that if we are always looking forward, we’ll be able to satisfy our customers' needs,” he told AIN. In one example he cited, the company received a request from an aircraft two hours out, carrying a sheikh, requesting seven black SUVs to carry him and his retinue, plus a separate van for luggage. “We were able to knock it down in a two-hour span,” said Martin. “We were able to get all the transportation set up, and were able to satisfy his security detail as well.”